is there a law that limits the amount of hours a salary employee can work?

Question

i work a minimum of 5o hours per week. the worst week i have had this year was 120 hours. was that illegal? or just stupid

Answer 1

Being salaried doesn't necessarily excuse your employer from paying you overtime - whether or not you're exempt depends on the job duties you have, and on your salary. See http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/scope/screen9.asp and http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/overtimepay.htm for more info. There's not a limit on total hours, but depending on your job, they might be required to pay you time and a half for hours over 40 per week, which would either slow down the hours they expect you to work, or make you feel better about working all those hours.

If you are covered by FLSA, and they're not paying you for overtime hours, then yes, that's illegal. If you are not covered, then it's still fair to talk to your employer about all this, especially if it's frequent.

Answer 2

I've always wondered about this as well. I work in advertising where 60-70 hour work weeks are expected (bosses have given me "the look" because I've "only" put in a 10 hour day)

I make a nice salary on paper, but if you did the math, I would probably be making better money working as a receptionist in a law firm.

Answer 3

is the 40 hour shrink purely for hourly workers then? each thing after 40 hours is meant to be paid a million a million/2 situations hourly pay.....i assume that's a draw back to being a salaried worker lol. yet whilst the hours are far extra than 40 and you're salaried, you're able to call for a strengthen or another style of reimbursement. it is not honest....till its merely occassional taht you're able to artwork extra suitable than 40 hours at situations.

Answer 4

If you are salary - exempt that is how t is, on the plus side if you take off you are still compensated at the same rate

Answer 5

My situation is about the same. Would you please get the answer to me when you find out from US Department of Labor. I'm not happy about it ! [e-mail]